Correspondence, 1782, 1800-1802, 1819-1846, 1872-1873, 1885-1909, and undated

Letters to Elizabeth (Betsey) Mason from her brother-in-law George Mason (1791-1855) of "Hollin Hall", VA seem to reflect and intimate and close relationship between the two. George Mason in an 1842 letter asked her "Have I promoted discord? Have I spoken harshly of my relatives or connections? Or have I not uniformly and on every topic tried rather to excuse than blame? I know you will do me the justice to say that I have even sometimes risked your good opinions of friendly feelings (...there is no ones I value more)" In another he wrote that she had "once more gotten in a good humor with your old friend without acknowledging it."

A few years in the lives of the Mason and Swann families as represented by several letters in this collection reveal when these two families united and very soon thereafter suffered a great loss but at the same time enjoyed the continuance of the Swann name.

For the first six months of 1887, Carita Mason (also known as Googy) received many letters from her uncle by marriage, John Bullis. Bullis was a widow. His wife, Alice, the sister of Caritas mother, Carolina Rodriguez Mason, died in late 1886. Prior to her death, Alice wrote to Googy on July 12, 1886, that she was "very nervous and not feeling well" and would not visit her husband at Fort Sill. Following her death and in the spring of 1887, Bullis decided to travel from his post at Fort Sill to visit friends and relatives in the northeastern United States, including the Masons in Virginia. All of his letters to Carita show an increasing affection for her and disappointment that her mother does not like him. On April 28th, 1887 he wrote: "I told you in the winter if you continued to do so (write me such nice letters), I should fall in love with you or words to that effect". After visiting with Carita and her family in late May or early June, he wrote her from Washington, D.C., on June 5th: "I regret that your mother should have been so severe toward me". On June 8, he wrote her from New York City: "I think of you often and dislike to go further from you." On June 15th from Buffalo, NY, he wrote: "I wish you could have made the journey with me and met my people but your ma is against me from some cause. She must know that my name and record are good and why she should do so is more than I can understand." Evidence of his good name and record are found in two letters written to him from his Army friends in 1887. Perhaps the fact that he was not only Caritas uncle but also that he was 26 years her senior, old enough to be her father, was why her mother felt as she did about him. Bullis himself may have realized another reason when he writes on June 18th: "more than one half of my life (twenty three years) has been passed in the army and most of that time on the frontier."

In mid-August, 1887, Carita received a letter of congratulations on her engagement to Thomas Swann. "The Mirror", a Loudon County, VA newspaper, announced the marriage of Carita Mason to Thomas Swann on December 31, 1887. In January 1889, Thomas Swanns aunt Ellen Latrobe, wrote Carita about preparing herself for the baby and in February Fanny Mason sent her "affectionate greeting to the little stranger." By March 11, 1889, Carita was dead at 23 years of age. That same year three letters to Carolina Mason, Caritas mother, express sympathy on the loss of Carita and comfort that she has her grandson, Thomas Swann. Two letters from Tom to his Mamma (grandmother Carolina) tell of his life at St. Pauls School, Concord, NH in 1907 and his arrival at Princeton University in 1909.

To bring the Bullis/Mason relationship full circle a letter from Josephine Bullis in 1905 to Carolina expressed her concern about Carolinas mothers illness and offered her help if Carolina decided to come to Texas. Mrs. Bullis was John Bullis' second wife.

The correspondence of Thompson [sic]/Thomson F. Mason refer to his law practice: a request to dismiss a suit; a payment for services; a receipt of notes due for payment; a response to a deed search; requests for meetings with him.

Arrangement is alphabetical by recipient.